Manan : Jeene Laga Hoon Pehle Se Zyaada by Crystal : Chapter 30

The comments in Chapter 29 have been answered.. thanks for your support keep supporting..i am going to continue this ff just for my fans who are actually reading……. But a request to all my silent readers…. Please comment just to boost up the writers 

Recap : Engagement Day

Let’s continue
(Nandini’s POV) The place was huge. I have never been so nervous. I wonder if Manik could feel my hands shaking. We entered and people clapping for us and congratulating us.

Aunty had invited all employees and business associates of the Malhotra groups, family members, clients and friends and family friends.

We had exchanged our rings and were bestowed with wishes by everyone present.

It was almost late night before Manik and I could move from the stage. As we were getting down, my Mom and Nanaji were coming. I looked at Manik. He looked puzzled too. I just froze. I couldn’t move one step. Manik had to drag me down. He held my hands firmly.

(Manik whispered) “Maa is asking us down. Don’t worry; I will be there with you, holding your hands throughout. You are no longer the nine year old child that your Nanaji had abused.”

(Nandini’s POV) It struck me like lightening. I am no longer the child who couldn’t answer back against a person. He cannot change my life anymore like he did before. He cannot
take anything from me any longer without a fight.

(Nandini) “Manik, come on. Let me introduce you to Mr. Sen. He was once the legal advisor to our company but later he moved forward to achieve what he wanted. This is his daughter, Sharmishta Garg.”

Sharmishtha Maa had smiled at us with compassion. I wonder how she would feel if she knew it was her daughter’s engagement.

(Sen) “Oh, we met at the registrar office. You are Mrs. Singh’s boy. It didn’t strike me since the surnames were different. Ah, the young lady too, we met there. Ah, you are marrying
that lady that Venkatesh had represented. Nice to meet you again. So, Mrs. Singh, is this marriage of your choice?” He still thinks people marry for money.

(Nyonika) “Ha ha, Mr. Sen. You must realise that even if the marriage is arranged, until and unless the children wish to love each other and put an effort to continue, the marriage will fail.”

(Sen) “True. How come I don’t see the girl’s parents?” In my head, answers to his questions kept relaying but I couldn’t speak them out. My parents, he asks. Well, one of them is standing right beside him.

(Nyo) “They are dead. She and her brother grew up with their Dadaji. But after he died when she was in high school, she grew up with her guardian, Mr. Iyer.”

Nandini at the very thought what Nyonika told were partially true. Sharmishtha Maa looked stunned to hear Uncle’s name. But I have nothing to worry about. Rishabh and I are not the only children uncle takes care off.

(Sharmishtha) “What? Iyer? You mean Venkatesh Iyer?”

(Nyo) “Yes, Mrs. Garg. Why do you know him?” I must give Maa I mean AP aunty for her due regard in acting. I am glad that she sticks up for me.

(Sharmishtha) “Yes. A good friend. Are you sure she grew up with him?” When she insisted the question again, I got scared. Can she recognise me? I don’t want her to know me. I
clung to Manik.

Manik answered her.

“Mr. Iyer is a man to be respected. He is guardian of numerous children and sponsors their education. My fiancée is one of the girls benefited by his benevolence.”

(Sen) “I see. She is a nobody.”

(Nandini’s PoV) I perked up hearing this. I really wanted to talk right back at him but Manik replied back calmly,

(Manik) “She is a very good consultant with a keen eye for business. There are many people who benefit from her talent and I must say they are not in the least dire to work too hard to rise up in life. They have grown wealthy from Nandini’s accurate predictions. It is only a matter of time before she is recognised widely. Speaking of which, why don’t we go, few of our important clients are waiting to meet us Maa”

(Sen) “Thank you, Mr. Malhotra. Let me not keep you.”

Soon Manik had walked up to Uncle and Aunty and told him about their arrival. Later Uncle and Aunty had managed the entire situation and when they left I (Nandini) felt relieved.

The day long occasion and event had taken a troll over my body and Kavya’s bakbak (Cabir’s elder sister) and all my friends chitchat gave me headache so I head back to Aunty’s room for some medicine and what I saw there was a shock. My mom Sharmishtha had figured out that I was Priya and the boy who was beside me Apart from Manik was Ved.

Shocked seeing my mom not leaving and she was talking to Bhua, on seeing me she was going to come near and hug me and therefore I moved back. Seeing this, Bhua started thinking about the past.

FLASHBACK –
{“Nandini beta, did u meet Sharmishtha?” (when Nandini was young, she somehow got her mom’s address and she went to meet her. This conversation between Shanoo and Nandini is in this topic only)

“If you mean my mom, isn’t she dead already?”

The nonchalance in her voice made me feel chilly in my spine. What hAppened there? She has never been like this.“What do you mean by dead?”

She didn’t answer.

“Answer Me, Nandini. What Do You Mean By It?” I couldn’t believe my voice raising. I never had raised my voice against children. Still, she kept quiet.

“NANDINI!” She instantly became furious like a tiger.

“THAT WOMAN WHO IS MY MOTHER IS DEAD. RISHU AND I ARE ORPHANS. NO MORE TALK ABOUT THAT WOMAN. IF RISHU EVER ASKS ABOUT MOTHER, TELL HIM THAT SHE IS DEAD.”

Pure hatred was filled in her eyes. None of us knew the reason why Nandini was behaving like that,

“Nandu! Keep the noise down.” Ram Murthy was standing by the door. He had a stern look on his face. He knew she went to see her. He was always against Nandini seeing her mother. She didn’t look calm but took her seat. “Are you satisfied?” Papa asked me (Shanoo).

“Yes.” She answered back calmly in complete contrast to how she answered me. It scared me the adult like way this teenage girl acts.

“Dadaji, teach me about management. I no longer have the intention of becoming a lawyer.” She doesn’t want to become a lawyer? Ever since she split away from her mother and came here, she always said she was going to become a lawyer and work with or against her parents. Now, she wants to go into a field where it is almost impossible to meet them.

From that day on, the way Nandini acted, frightened me as to the level that she has matured. No matter how many times I ask her about what hAppened, I always see the rage and animal’s fury in her eyes, sends shivers down my spine. Her hatred was enough to kill her own mother!}

(Nandini in monotone) “Of course, I remember. You were with Mr. Sen just now. ”

(Sharmishtha) “No. Priya, you don’t recognise me?”

(Nandini’s POV) Recognise? Does she still have the right to say that?

(Nandini) “I am sorry. I still can’t recall who you are.”

(Sharmishtha) “Who are your parents?”

(Nandini) I didn’t want to answer her. I didn’t want to hurt her but she just couldn’t stop asking me. “They are dead. They are no longer with me.”

She was shocked. She started crying. I don’t want to believe her tears. For fourteen years, she never bothered to check on us and now, she starts all her motherly act. Then she
suddenly said, “You know, my children, Priya and Ved they were brought by their Dadaji. I didn’t know he died. I was scared to see my children when they were with him. I just couldn’t talk with their grandfathers to see them. I still love them. If you are related to Shanoo, you should know about them.”
So much like a lawyer. I don’t care anymore about hurting her anymore at this point.

(Nandini) “Yes. I do know about them. I remember clearly when Priya and Ved died. Priya used to believe that though her mother left her with her Dadaji, one day she will come to
get them. She believed that with her whole heart. Tired of waiting, despite her grandfather’s objections, she went to see her mother. There, she saw her mother with her husband and
two children hAppily having their lunch in the garden. All those years, she thought her mother will remember them and come and get them. Even if she did get married again, she believed that with the help of her new father, they can be together with their mother. When she saw YOU, hAppily playing with your kids, without any worry that you abandoned your children with someone they hadn’t seen from they were born, she realised she didn’t need you. Once she realised that, you are as good as dead. They also died that very day. The only ones, I know and, we are, the only grandchildren of Ram Murthy, Nandini and Ved, his successors. If you don’t mind, I will take my tablets and go. Don’t ever come back and look for your dead children, Mrs. Sharmishtha Garg. I am sure you understand that much. Be hAppy with what you already have. Don’t reach for something you will never get in this life.”

(Nandini’s POV) She started crying. I shouldn’t turn back and look at her. I should go on. She has her own family now. She has no need for us. I can never forget what she has done to us. I took my tablets and turned Manik, was standing by the door, accompanied me out (he had accompanied her because she was feeling dizzy because of her bad headache).
“…………… Thank you, Mrs. Garg.”

My child says they died the day they left me. She says I am no longer their mother. She says her parents are dead. Her eyes reflected her anger, wrath, rage. She killed me with her gaze. I can’t believe what a horrendous mistake I have done. She said she waited for me, even after I got married. Waited for me come and get her. I thought she would be hAppy with her grandfather. That is why I accepted the marriage proposal dad wanted. I thought she didn’t need me. I couldn’t make her believe I have missed both of them all this time. I couldn’t stop my tears. It is so painful to hear those words from her. She left without turning back, not even a glance.

(Sharmishtha) “What have I done?”

(Shanoo) “I see. That is what hAppened. No wonder she hates you so much that she would kill you. To her, you are already dead. Rishabh doesn’t even know how you look. You reAp what you sow, so if you don’t mind, leave soon. As much as that child’s words were hurtful, she must be hurt saying those words to her mother. She is a sweet child who thinks of others before telling anything hurtful. But, for her to feel that fury and say these words, it means she doesn’t want to see you anymore, even at your death. I am sure she will be crying for speaking unsympathetically. So please leave, Mrs.Sharmishtha Garg. Don’t ever come back into their lives.”

I couldn’t answer back to Priya or Shanoo. I left, feeling miserable. But I am hAppy that Priya and Ved are happy. I no longer have the right to see them, to feel the affection from them for which I have never given them. As I was leaving, I saw Priya and Ved surrounded by their friends laughing and having fun.

As I was leaving the venue, Manik, Priya’s fiancé came and assured that he would take good care of Nandini and will never hurt her.

Precap: Few cute moments of Manan on the day of engagement and the tournament.

Guys another three episodes i guess………. Will miss u all…. I have to stop because i have no other option……… As its better to close instead dragging………. My essence of the story has been delivered……… Thanks to all who have been constantly commenting and boosting me………… You guys can follow the same story at wattpad………. My wattpad id is @crystalff…….. I have changed the title it says Manan : I have started living my life after you entered